The officer approached. “Mr. Collins, we have —”
Cameron nodded at the gentleman. It wasn’t his fault; he was just doing his job. He raised his hands in front of him to show the officer he was clean. “Yes, sir. I know. Two seconds is all I ask.” The officer nodded, but didn’t move. Cameron cupped his wife’s face with his hands. “Alexandra, don’t bother coming down before you get the attorney. Let him handle everything. Okay?”
Tears poured from Alexandra’s eyes.
“Promise me to remain calm, Alex. It won’t do you or the baby any good to get upset. Everything will be okay, I swear.” He kissed her once more and stood up. He looked to the officer, raising his hands again. “Is it okay if I give her my wallet and phone?”
The officer shook his head. “No. Keep your hands out of your pockets, sir.”
Cameron looked back to his wife. “I want you to go now, Alexandra. Don’t look back. Just keep walking. Okay?”
She nodded and stood up on obviously shaky legs, as she wobbled toward him. But she pulled in a deep breath as though pulling herself together and stood to her full height. “I’ll be waiting by the phone for your call, Cameron. I love you too.” And she turned and walked away, head held high.
Cameron couldn’t help but smile as he turned toward the detective. “I’ve got one heck of a woman there, gentlemen. Only a man with a wife like her could smile while being arrested for something he didn’t do.”
The officer tried not to smile, but Cameron could see it was with great effort. Cameron turned around and put his hands behind his back for the officer to cuff him. It was the third time in his life he’d been cuffed and taken to jail. He knew the drill.
The officer’s words behind him faded into his subconscious as Cameron kept his eyes locked on his wife. A crowd of people had gathered around, but all he saw was Alexandra as the officer patted him down.
At the last second, before she lowered herself into the taxi, she looked back in his direction. “I love you, Cameron Collins!” she screamed, loud enough for the entire port to hear. “I’ll love you forever, and I’m proud to be your wife.”
The gathering crowd cheered and clapped as the officer directed him to the car. Tears streamed down his face, and he was glad she hadn’t listened to him. “I love you too, Alexandra!” he called back as loudly as he could as the officer touched the top of his head, lowering him into the back of the car.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
As soon as Nicky got in the taxi, she looked for Cameron. She blanched internally at her thoughts. She was Alexandra, not Nicky. Why had she instantly thought of herself as Nicky again? She refused to return to her previous life. This was just a short setback. Everything would be fine. Cameron had promised.
She knew he didn’t want her to see him, but she craned her head to look at him as the taxi passed the sheriff’s car. She saw Cameron in the back and shed a tear, as she watched him force a smile. She fell back into the seat when she could no longer see his face and let the tears fall like rain.
“Sorry, Miss. I know you be upset, but which way I go? Over ’d bridge to O’lando or you stay on ’d beach?”
Alexandra sat up and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry —”
“No, no. I see ’d po-leece arrest you man. I be sad too if de take me en front of me wife.”
She smiled at the man who had a beautiful Jamaican accent. She pulled in a breath and attempted to compose herself. “I’m on the beach, sir. Just head south on A1A and I’ll direct you in.”
Alexandra reached for her phone to call Candy and then remembered she didn’t have one. Cameron had thrown her phone in the ocean the day they’d left, and the police had refused to let Cameron give her his. It was only a few minutes anyway.
When they pulled up in front of the condo, the driver helped her to the door with her luggage, and she gave him a tip. “Thank you for being so kind, sir.”
“No problem, pretty lady. Everyt’ing ’ll be alright.”
She smiled at his words. And here she’d always thought they were just words to a song. She nodded and plastered on a smile for the kind man. She had plenty of practice at forcing smiles.
As soon as she entered her code in the door, Candy pulled it open. “Cameron?”
Alexandra swallowed the lump in her throat. “No. It’s just me.”
Candy sunk to her knees. “No!” She let out a wail. “I can’t believe … oh, my God, my baby.”
Alexandra touched her new mother-in-law’s shoulder, and she jerked her head up to look at her. “Don’t you touch me. This is all your fault. If you weren’t carrying on with that loser —”
Alexandra’s mouth fell open as a wash of heat surged through her body, knowing she was partially correct. “You’re right, Candy. This is my fault, but not because I gave Jonathan any false ideas. The man nearly killed me.”
Candice shook her head. “Once again, my son has to come to the rescue. When will he ever learn?” The woman stood up, but she wobbled a few feet and then leaned against the wall.
“Here, Candy, let’s go sit down.” It was clear that she was still drunk from the previous evening or had already been hitting the liquor this morning. As much as Alexandra didn’t want to cause strife with the family, when this was all over, there would have to be a decision made. There was no way she could trust her baby around this woman.
Alexandra lowered her mother-in-law to the couch and sat down beside her. It looked as though she may pass out at any second, so she needed some info fast. “Candy, Cameron mentioned an attorney who had helped him when he was seventeen?”
Candy’s eyes sprang to life. “Who told you?”
She couldn’t help but huff at the woman. “I’m his wife. You don’t think he would confide in me about something so important?” Of course, he’d only told her this morning, but she was certain he would have told her eventually. “I need the number.”
Candy shrugged and lowered her head. “I can’t remember. He helped me out a few years ago with a DUI. My husband took care of all that stuff, and then Cameron …”
Alexandra couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She had the nerve to blame her for Cameron’s arrest, and she’d been giving him nothing but heartache and living off him since he was eighteen. “Think, Candy. Cameron needs you. I need you. And your grandchild needs you.”
Her eyes darted up at her again. “Is it Cameron’s, Alex?”
Alexandra nodded. “I never took a chance with Jonathan, I swear. So, yes … it has to be. I’m positive. It just has to be.”
Candy wrapped her arms around her. “You don’t know how much Cameron and I need this. He loves you, more than he ever loved his girlfriend in high school, but he’d been devastated by what that animal had done to her — his own daughter.” She shook her head. “His name! I know it —” She smacked her head with her hand. “Let me think.” She jumped up as though she’d instantly sobered. “The actors … the cute Scottish and English actors … It’s why my husband trusted him. Aid …”
“Aidan?” Alexandra questioned.
“That’s it! And the other one … they were both cute actors. Umm … Grant! Aidan Grant, that’s it. I did it.”
Alexandra couldn’t help but laugh at her mother-in-law’s joy at remembering a name. “I’ll go look it up.”
“He works out of an office in Cocoa Village,” Candy added as Alexandra stood up to go research it.
“We’re going to get our baby back, Candy. He belongs to both of us now, and I won’t lose him.”
Candice rested her hands on her shoulders. “Thank you, Alex. You don’t know how much he loves you. He really does. He’s never loved anyone, not even her, but he loves you, and you’ve brought my boy back to me. I can never repay you for just the joy I see in his face.” She wrapped her arms around her. “And I love you too. Despite if I act like a bitch sometimes, I do love you.”
“Thank you, Candy. I don’t think you act like a — well, I’ve never seen you — I’m going to look up tha
t number now.” Alexandra turned to walk away. She hadn’t told anyone other than Cameron that she loved them in fourteen years. Maybe she could learn to trust someday.
It didn’t take but a second to find the attorney’s law firm with a Google search. The question was … would he still be practicing, and how would they get in touch with him on a Saturday?
Alexandra dialed the number and waited while the phone rang. The answering service picked up and said their spiel. “Hello. I’m looking for —”
Candy moved around her and snatched the phone out of her hands. “Hellloo … Aidan, please.”
“Candy, it’s an answering service,” Alexandra whispered.
She waved her off. “Young lady, I know Aidan, and I know he’s in the office. Tell him Candy Collins is on the phone.”
Alexandra heard the lady falter on the other line. “Trust me, sweetie. If he finds out you didn’t transfer me, you may lose your job.” The woman on the phone must have said something positive because Candy smiled a wide grin and then sprawled out across her and Cameron’s bed as if she were a cat. She could almost picture her licking her paws and smoothing back her long brown hair. “Hello, Aidan. Guess who?”
Alexandra didn’t think this was what Cameron had in mind. But if it worked, she wouldn’t complain.
She heard the man’s deep voice thunder through the phone. “Candy Collins.” He let out a gust of air. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Oh, Aidan. I know it’s been a while, but why do you always think I want something?”
“Because you always do, my dear. Of course —”
Candy cupped the earpiece and just listened. “Aidan, I hate to interrupt, but I do need your help. Cameron is in trouble, and unlike last time, he’s innocent.”
Alexandra could hear the guffaws through the phone. “I was just heading out …”
“Please. You’re the best, Aidan, and I am prepared to pay you well.”
Alexandra blanched at her last statement. She did have a little money now and a paid off vehicle she could offer up as collateral for bail. But it sounded as though Candy were working out the legal fees in her own way, and Alexandra wondered if she’d been part of the first payment to get Cameron’s records sealed.
“Okay.” Alexandra heard on the other end, and she almost cheered. “I’ll head up there and see what I can do.” There was a moment’s pause. “And, Candy, no rain checks this time. I expect payment in full.”
Candy smiled, though he couldn’t see it. “I understand, Aidan.” When she hung up, she looked at Alexandra. “It’s not what you think, Alex. Aidan helped me out a few years ago, and we became … friends.”
Alexandra waved her off. “As long as he can get my husband back, I don’t care what your arrangement is.” Alexandra opened the bedroom door, suggesting she needed time alone. “I need to handle a few things, Candy. He’ll call you on your cell, I take it?”
Candice slid off the bed and sauntered to the door. She raised her eyes to Alexandra as she reached for the knob. “Don’t do anything stupid, Alex. Me, I’m a grown woman with no one who cares. Cameron won’t be too happy if you do anything rash.” And she left the room.
Cameron had used the same words. What did they think she was going to do? What was she going to do? She knew what she had to do and knew Cameron wouldn’t like it. But in a way, this was all her fault, so she needed to fix it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Cameron forced a smile as the taxi carried his wife away from him. She still loved him, despite what he’d done. And together they’d get through this.
He tried to situate his body in the backseat of the patrol car with his hands cuffed behind his back; it wasn’t easy. Yesterday he was in paradise; today he was in hell. Amazing the difference a day could make.
The officer on the passenger side looked over his shoulder at him. “Did you have a nice trip?”
Cameron couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. “I did. It was my honeymoon.”
The officer nodded in response. “So we heard.” He sniffed and tilted his head a fraction as if curious about something. “Wanna tell us how prescription scripts and two hundred bottles of Oxycontin ended up in the trunk of your car, Mr. Collins?”
Cameron closed his eyes and shook his head. And here he thought Jonathan was the type to deal in pot. “My wife is contacting an attorney for me. I guess I should wait for him.”
The man faced front again and raised his chin at his partner, who in return let out a small chuckle. “Have it your way, Cameron. I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”
He knew the officer was probably a nice guy, but he also knew, he wouldn’t look at him any differently from any other suspect he’d cuffed and thrown into the backseat of his patrol car. Nothing that Cameron told the officer would help his situation. Jonathan had planted the evidence, and he’d just have to prove that he was innocent.
It was a long trip from the port to the prison, which, unfortunately, allowed him more time to think. It’d been a long time, but Cameron remembered Sharpes well. He’d promised himself he’d never return and had led a straight and narrow path since he was seventeen.
Cameron watched with longing as the cruise ships docked in Port Canaveral faded in the distance. How he would’ve loved to hop back on one and have run from this, but he knew it wasn’t possible. He couldn’t run from his past or his present, as he’d told Alexandra earlier. He had to face it head-on and rip out the weed by the root. He’d underestimated Jonathan, maybe even incited him with his you lose comment.
Who would’ve thought that Jonathan would fight so hard for a woman who didn’t want him? As much as Cameron loved Alexandra, he would have let her go if that’s what she’d wanted. That was the difference between love and obsession. He’d loved Alexandra enough that he would have let her go. Jonathan was obsessed with her so much that he couldn’t.
Jonathan was more dangerous than he’d appeared, and now, Cameron wasn’t even able to protect Alexandra. He could only imagine what might happen if she confronted Jonathan. He could only hope that she’d understood what he meant when he’d told her not to do anything rash.
The patrol car pulled up in front of a gated entrance, and the driver clicked his radio. “Dispatch, open Sally Port.”
A woman’s voice immediately responded, “10-4.”
The sheriff drove through the gate and clicked the radio again. “Close Sally Port.”
Same response, “10-4.”
They pulled into the parking garage, and Cameron watched as the officer on the passenger side got out of the vehicle and approached a set of small black lockers, similar to ones he’d seen in airports, only smaller. He removed his gun, placed it in the small locker, and pulled out the key. Then he walked back to the car and opened the door for Cameron. “Watch your head getting out, Mr. Collins.”
Cameron inched his way out of the car and walked beside the officer to a set of doors with a large sign stating, No Weapons Allowed. Now he understood the reason for the lock boxes. After a few seconds, a buzzer sounded, and the officer opened the door.
The sheriff immediately directed him to the left, and Cameron couldn’t help but see the gigantic sign reminding officers that All Prisoners Must Be searched by Correctional Personnel.
Joy. He could have done without that disgrace again.
After Cameron had undergone his second pat down in one day, the officer directed him back out to the main room again.
Inside was roomier and airier than Cameron had remembered. Gone were the small, dark hallways with no windows. This building consisted of white cinder blocks with gray trim and windows all around. The officer motioned him forward to a teal laminate desk with tan counters underneath. Several people worked behind the large desk. The officer started separating papers and handed the woman behind the partition the packets.
“Identification, please,” were the only words the woman uttered. She looked at Cameron’s license and began to type int
o a computer. A few seconds later, the woman summoned a correctional officer, and the arresting officer handed him over to the new gentleman. The new man directed Cameron to a small shower and handed him a set of navy blue pants and shirt that looked like hospital scrubs, along with a cheap pair of rubber flip-flops so he couldn’t hang himself on his shoelaces, he presumed.
Well, Cameron thought to himself, at least he didn’t have to get hosed down in a large room with ten people watching, as they showed in movies. This had actually been a rather easy experience so far. Even the smell was better than it was the last time he’d been here.
Of course, part of the smell last time was from his girlfriend’s blood, which had soaked through his clothes when he’d carried her to his car and then inside the hospital. He shook the memories from his head, and then just as quickly, the image of Alexandra in the hospital after Jonathan had beaten her, penetrated his thoughts. Would he ever be able to escape all these ghosts?
A rap on the door startled Cameron from his thoughts. He finished changing and opened the door.
“Walk with me,” the correctional officer ordered. He wasn’t rude, just direct. The officer directed him down a hallway, handed a woman behind another window all of his personal possessions, and had Cameron sign a paper confirming the contents.
A few minutes later, the officer fingerprinted him on a computer pad. Amazing how different things were in just ten years. Last time he’d distinctly remembered how they’d pressed each finger onto a black pad and rolled each tip onto a file. Somehow, placing his fingers on a computer pad didn’t seem as degrading. After taking pictures and putting him through a health screening, they put him in a holding cell marked with a large white number three.
“Do I get a phone call?” Cameron spoke for the first time other than to answer personal questions.
“We’ll call you as soon as one is available.” And with that, the officer closed him inside with a few other inmates who looked as though they’d been there all night.
Cameron kept his eyes lowered and just sat down on a bench and attempted to lose his thoughts in visions of the last week spent with Alexandra. She was worth all of this, he was certain. But in the present situation, it was getting harder for his heart to convince his brain of that statement.
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